Colour in Film and its Significance

In this weeks seminar we were introduced to cinematography and how colour works as a tool in film. All colours are associated with different emotions and are used in films to convey certain tones and moods:

RED - anger, love, power, heat, blood, violence, danger, passion, aggression

BLUE - tranquillity, calm, cleanliness, depression, cold

YELLOW - joy, happiness, imagination, hope, hazard, illness, wisdom, dishonesty,  betrayal

GREEN - soothing, peace, nature, jealousy, envy, health, good luck, generosity

ORANGE - energy, warmth, humour, vibrant, enthusiasm 

PURPLE - royalty, power, intimacy, wisdom, spirituality, mysterious, cruelty, arrogance

PINK - love, happy, charming, playful, feminine, romantic, soft

BLACK - elegance, evil, fear, mystery, unhappiness, style, remorse

WHITE - purity, love, protection, innocence, youth, death, simplicity, birth, peace

We also discussed colour themes within films, as viewers will notice that throughout films where different emotions are provoked by the colour changes within these scenes. For example here are some stills from films along with their corresponding colour palettes.

Colour palette showing themes in Drive (Dir. Nicholas Winding Refn, 2011)

   Colour palette showing themes in film Alice in Wonderland (Dir. Tim Burton, 2010) 

Both images come from http://moviesincolor.com/